Country/Town Visited: Dubai, UAE
Date of stay: December 2011 – Feb 2012
Where you stayed: With Family
Tour or pre planned: Pre Planned
Walking through the Dubai airport I was fighting the urge to pull out my camera in customs to take photos of all of the guys working there, wearing their dish-dashes. My Aunty had been living in the UAE for the last few years, so while I was in transit to London, I thought I would spend a bit of time there with her and my cousin, making my trip to Dubai a bit longer than what most people get to experience.
I had arrived the week before Christmas (2011) and even though the UAE is a Muslim country and they don't celebrate Christmas, there were still big Christmas displays around the place. My first day started off at a Christmas party at the Off Shore Boating club, which was definitely a nice way to be introduced to the country. Santa arrived on a boat, and my 8mo cousin Zoe got her first picture with Santa. Then it was off to Mall of the Emirates, which has Ski Dubai, a massive indoor ski field in the mall.
I spent a couple of days working on my tan, before heading off on the most important adventure - acquiring alcohol! This adventure is known as the Barracuda Run. To be able to purchase alcohol in Dubai, you need to apply for a license (hotel's are licensed, so don't fret, you still have hundreds of bars, pubs and nightclubs) as it is a Muslim country (there isn't beers and wines in the supermarkets like NZ, or a bottle-o on every corner like in Oz). Heading to Barracuda you usually pass through Sharjah, which is a dry Emirate and you can be arrested or fined if you get caught with alcohol in your car (Barracuda Bandits - people that follow you from Barracuda and will bump your car, and threaten to call the police, then accept a bribe), but luckily for us, there is the new 611, which bypasses Sharjah all together so you don't have to be worried about passing the dry Emirate. Sharjah is known as one of the stricter Emirates with their view on clothing, cohabitation and alcohol. There is even stories of there being searches on apartment blocks in the middle of the night to make sure there is no “cohabitation” happening. Barracuda is a hotel that sells alcohol and is about an hour and fifteen minutes drive from Dubai. If you know someone that is going to Barracuda, you are usually very quick to put your orders in. I was expecting a dodgy little shop with ridiculous prices, but instead I got a nice spacious air-conditioned modern oasis, with prices starting at 30dirhams (around $10AUD) for wine and 60dhms for a 1lt bottle of Absolute Vodka ($20AUD) - the cheapest alcohol in the country, and even beating duty free prices. My Aunty and I stocked up on alcoholic goodness to the point where our trolley was over flowing. My life was now back on track with a case of red wine, and getting to see camel's crossing the 12 lane highway on our journey back. What more could a girl ask for?
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